Free Republic

Desperate to win re-election, President Obama is taking inspiration from a tactic used by China’s Chairman Mao during so-called "Cultural Revolution."In order to spread his ideology, he creates his own army of brainwashed propagandists who are supposed to popularize talking points sent to them directly from the White House. Modern days hongweibings (Chinese for red guards) are called the Truth Team, and if everything goes as planned, the president will have an army of over two million Americans on his side.The Obama administration unveiled on Monday a campaign created to crush the GOP competition come November, a mission that...

The Center for Public Integrity released a new report on Obama’s 2012 bundlers yesterday: Dozens of Obama’s elite donors — many of them wealthy business figures — have been appointed to advisory panels and commissions that can play a role in setting government policy. Others have been invited to a range of exclusive White House briefings, holiday parties and splashy social events. And some have snagged lucrative government contracts that benefit their business interests or investment portfolios, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found. Here’s the breakdown: At least 68 of 350 Obama bundlers for the 2012 election or...

A new book by Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer details the startling extent of the cronyism that has pervaded President Obama’s “green jobs” push. According to Schweizer, 4 out of every 5 renewable energy companies backed by the Energy Department was “run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers.” Those companies’ “political largesse is probably the best investment they ever made in alternative energy,” Schweizer explains. “It brought them returns many times over.” Doug Ross spotted the relevant excerpt of Schweizer’s book (h/t Ben Domenech’s Transom): When President-elect Obama came to Washington in late 2008, he was outspoken about...

In a complaint seeking a finding of nondischargeability of debt, Fry's says former Vice President of Marketing and Operations Ausaf Umar Siddiqui defrauded the company willfully and maliciously and that its claim against the debtor therefore cannot be dismissed under federal bankruptcy..

The Solar thing just got a little more interesting.......REALLY! •The Tonopah Solar company in Harry Reid's Nevada is getting a $737 million loan from Obama's DOE. •The project will produce a 110 megawatt power system and employ 45 permanent workers. •That's costing us just $16 million per job. •One of the investment partners in this endeavor is Pacific Corporate Group (PCG). •The PCG executive director is Ron Pelosi who is the brother to Nancy's husband.

I feel like I finally get it--what is Washington? It is nothing but a huge kick-back machine. Insiders make contributions to their candidates expecting to get something from the public trough--the taxpayers money, that is. You make your contribution knowing that whatever you give will come back to you a hundred fold. It always comes back to the taxpayers money. Take Planned Parenthood, for instance. They get grants from the government, they take some of that taxpayers money and give it to the Democrats. It's a classic kick-back, Planned Parenthood gets it share of our money and the Democrat Pary...

Here's a novel idea: Have Congress create a "bank" that could borrow huge sums with only a small federal outlay and would be independent of any political interference. If you believe in this miracle, you probably thought Fannie Mae was a private company that wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime. We're referring to Washington's latest marketing tool to sell spending to a skeptical public, a new federal "infrastructure bank." For the low, low price of $30 billion or so, President Obama says Congress can conjure hundreds of billions in new "grants and loans" to rebuild "roads, bridges, and ports and broadband...

(AP) WASHINGTON — An assistant secretary at the Department of Labor has resigned after an internal investigation found that he improperly steered federal contracts to friends and former colleagues. Raymond Jefferson, who headed the department's Veterans Employment and Training Service since 2009, used his position to coerce or intimidate other employees to make the awards without open competition, according to a July 21 report by the agency's acting inspector general, Daniel Petrole.

Congressional Report Details AARP's Financial Gain From Health Care Law, Questions Tax-Exempt Status Washington, D.C. - Today, three Members of Congress released, “Behind the Veil: The AARP America Doesn’t Know,”a new report exposing the conflict between AARP’s drive for profits, the best interests of its members and the organization’s tax exempt status. The report, which is the culmination of more than a year-long investigation, concludes that AARP stands to make upwards of one billion dollars over the next ten years as a result of the new health care law through the sale of their endorsed-Medicare insurance products. Discussing the report’s...

Despite a long and deep recession, the collective personal wealth of congressional members increased by more than 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Responsive Politics.The steady also indicates that a significant number of members owned shares of major players in the health-care and financial-services sectors, which were the subject of major reform legislation during the period. The findings—based on federal financial disclosure data released earlier this year—paint a wealthy bunch in Congress, with more than half of all members—261—were millionaires. About one in five of those had average calculated wealth...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Innospec Agent Pleads Guilty to Bribing Iraqi Officials and Paying Kickbacks Under the Oil for Food Program WASHINGTON—Canadian/Lebanese dual national Ousama M. Naaman pleaded guilty today to participating in an eight-year conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. Naaman, 61, of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was originally indicted on Aug. 7, 2008, in U.S. District...

The name of President Obama came into play this afternoon at the political corruption trial of former governor Rod Blagojevich as an associate of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko testified that Rezko asked him to write a $10,000 check to Friends of Obama. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in January 2008 that Glenview businessman Joseph Aramanda, who is testifying today, made the donation as part of a scheme orchestrated by Rezko. Aramanda gave $10,000 in campaign cash to Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign on March 5, 2004, according to records. The money came from part of a finder’s fee Aramanda received, but did...

Economists have given us all the usual diagnoses of what went wrong in a now bankrupt Greece — high taxes, tax cheating, too generous retirements, unsustainable entitlements, government corruption, and anemic demography.

Over at BigGovernment.com, Don Loos posited an excellent reason about why the big public employees unions are falling all over themselves to help Obama force Obamacare down America's throats even though their members would lose their lavish healthcare plans as a result. The reason? $19 billion in likely dues money that these unions will get when helathcare is taken over by the federal government is the reason. It is true that everyone in the country will be hurt by the current Obamacare policies, it is true that everyone will experience less healthcare coverage at higher costs, it is true that...

A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed most of a lawsuit against Milberg LLP, brought by former clients who accused the law firm of paying them millions of dollars to serve as lead plaintiffs in class actions. The plaintiffs sought to recover their attorneys' fees. U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska dismissed the plaintiffs' racketeering claims as time-barred, but kept alive a breach of fiduciary duty charge. Melvyn Weiss, David Bershad, William Lerach and Steven Schulman, four ex-partners of the law firm, pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to clients in order to induce them to file suits. Prosecutors said the fraud...

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., is taking his message on health care reform to Nebraskans in a TV ad that will reach many during the Huskers' Holiday Bowl telecast. In the ad, Nelson says that given the distortions about health care reform, "I want you to hear directly from me."

The top regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to announce millions of dollars in pay packages for top executives at the government-run mortgage-finance titans, people familiar with the matter said. The Federal Housing Finance Agency approved compensation plans for Fannie Chief Executive Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Haldeman Jr. Those packages are expected to be in a range of $4 million to $6 million, people familiar with the matter said. The companies are expected to spell out pay details for their top executives in securities filings Thursday morning. The Christmas Eve announcement is likely to provoke...

So just as a quick update on the overt corruption being passed off as "business as usual" for the Dems: With the bill hanging in the balance, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) won a provision exempting his state from paying the usual share of costs for new Medicaid patients. The deal, which critics have dubbed the "Cornhusker Kickback," is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over 10 years. Before a close vote last month, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) won an even larger break for her state -- an estimated $300 million in extra federal spending, in a move now...

Republicans poring over the bill Democrats released Saturday found this on page 328: “(a) APPROPRIATION.—There are authorized to be appropriated, and there are appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, to remain available for obligation until September 30, 2011, to be used for debt service on, or direct construction or renovation of, a health care facility that provides research, inpatient tertiary care, or outpatient clinical services. Such facility shall be affiliated with an academic health center at a public research university in the United States that contains a State’s sole public academic medical...

Back on November 21st, Senator Mary Landrieu provided the 60th vote for the Senate Democrats to cut off a GOP filibuster and start the debate on a healthcare reform bill. In exchange for that vote, the Democratic leadership offered her a $300 million ‘bribe’ in the form of additional Medicaid benefits for her home state of Louisiana and for other states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Now a month later Senator Ben Nelson has announced that he will provide the 60th vote to cut off debate on the healthcare reform bill. In exchange for his vote, the Democratic leadership offered him...

Interesting Provisions That Recently Appeared In Senate Health Bill ? $100,000,000 For “Health Care Facility” “At A Public Research University In The United States That Contains A State’s Sole Public Academic Medical And Dental School.” NEBRASKA “As Part Of The Deal To Win Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson's Support, The Federal Government Will Fund Nebraska's New Medicaid Recipients.” (“Ben Nelson's Medicaid Deal,” Politico, 12/19/09) VERMONT “The Health Care Overhaul Taking Shape In Congress Includes A Provision Pushed By Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy To Increase The State’s Medicaid Payments By $250 Million Over Six Years. The Provision, Also Supported By Sen. Bernie...

If you were president of the United States, would you hire an alleged former spy for Fidel Castro to be ambassador to El Salvador, a country teetering on the brink of hard-core socialism? President Obama just did. On Dec. 9, Obama nominated Mari Del Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador, despite the fact that in the late 1990s, the FBI discovered that she was working with Cuban intelligence officers. According to Insight Magazine, "When the FBI eventually questioned her about her involvement with Cuban intelligence, she reportedly refused to cooperate." Why would Aponte escape the Obama administration's scrutiny?...

Published on CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress (http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org) Murtha Acknowledges He Is Subject of Ethics Inquiry By Paul Singer, Roll CallNovember 1, 2009After years of allegations that he improperly lavishes federal dollars on local supporters and campaign donors, Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) acknowledged for the first time last week that ethics investigators are looking into his earmarks.After the Washington Post disclosed a leaked list of Members being investigated by the House ethics committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and the Office of Congressional Ethics — including seven members of...

It would be next to impossible to fact-check everything Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd says. Lord knows the endeavor would be worthwhile; after all, politicians such as Sen. Dodd inspired the joke: "How do you know politicians are lying? Their lips are moving." Sen. Dodd's reason for staying on as chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee, rather than taking over the late Ted Kennedy's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is one of his more recent statements that fails the smell test. "We have important work to do on the Banking Committee, and I intend to...

Ominous times for MurthaTimothy McNulty | July 22, 2009 The feds are drawing closer to Jack Murtha, say these stories in Roll Call and TPM..... SNIPOminously, O'Hair has said he will cooperate with the Feds. Coherent's CEO, Richard Ianieri, who earlier this month pleaded guilty to soliciting kickbacks, has also indicated he'll cooperate.

Congressman John Murtha reminds me of Big Julie in play Guys and Dolls, who boasts: “I got a poifect record: thoity-three arrests, no convictions.” Months ago, the FBI raided the offices of the PMA group. What they found suggested that Murtha and his buddies at the PMA Group operated their own little Earmark Factory. But that was just the tip of the iceberg, another one of John Murtha's most favorite contractors was charged for taking $200,000 in kickbacks, the FBI is Investigating Multi-Billion-Dollar Murtha favored Defense Contractor With Tax-Exempt Status, Murtha has even gotten family into the earmark business, and...

Reported during Your World that Steven Rattner would step down and be replaced by a member of the Auto Task Force. No print story currently available at site.

Is this what Time magazine meant with their July 6th cover, What Barack Obama Can Learn From FDR? Not one to let "a serious crisis to go to waste," Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the onset of the Great Depression as an excuse to immediately begin delivering New Deal dollars in unprecedented amounts - with laser-like political precision to electorally important parts of the country. He sailed to landslide reelection in 1936 on a federally-funded tailwind. The New Deal is now an old one - as direct mail guru Richard Viguerie describes it, "We've got money, you've got votes, let's talk."...

Richard Ianieri, the defense contractor charged today with accepting $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor, was president of a company that gave more money to Rep. John Murtha than any other lawmaker. That company, Coherent Systems International, received millions of dollars in earmarks from Murtha, and continued giving money to the Pennsylvania Democrat after Ianieri left Coherent and Argon ST bought it. The criminal complaint filed yesterday reportedly did not name the subcontractor, according to Roll Call. In total, the employees of Coherent, and employees and political action committees of Argon and its subsidiaries, have given $81,950 to Murtha's campaign...

Congressman John Murtha, the King of Congressional Pork acts may be losing his Teflon coating and his friends are getting a bit nervous. A few months ago, the FBI raided the offices of the PMA group. What they found suggested that Murtha and his buddies at the PMA Group operated their own little Earmark Factory. A later report suggested that the FBI may be zeroing in on the relationship between Murtha and PMA. No worries for Mr. Murtha, despite the FBI putting the heat on his PMA relationship, the Porkmeister is is still accepting money from PMA clients and still...

ATLANTA—Anthony M. Tesvich, 42, of Atlanta, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Richard W. Story to serve over six years in federal prison on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filing false tax returns, in connection with a scheme to defraud Home Depot. United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “This defendant and his co-conspirators inside Home Depot took payoffs from certain foreign vendors in exchange for giving those suppliers’ products an unfair advantage in the company’s many stores across the country. This corruption hurt competing vendors who played by the rules, Home Depot, and its...

FBI Investigating Multi-Billion-Dollar Defense Contractor With Tax-Exempt Status In Congressman's HometownCBS News has learned the FBI is investigating a little-known not-for-profit organization called Commonwealth Research Institute. It's located, like a lot of Rep. John Murtha's, D-Penn., pet projects, in his hometown, Johnstown, Penn. Commonwealth gets the same benefits as the Salvation Army or any other charity: It doesn't have to pay taxes. But its line of work may be surprising. It's a defense contractor. "It certainly raises a question," says Dean Zerbe, a former top Senate investigator. He questions Commonwealth's tax exempt status, saying it seems to do business just...

David Stevens, the administration's pick for an assistant secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to pass muster and his confirmation delayed as it was disclosed that the real estate brokerage he operates as chief is facing several class action lawsuits. The charges against Long & Foster, a Virginia real estate brokerage, allege that their agents steered homebuyers to affiliated mortgage and title companies, which then shared their profits with the real estate brokerage. We often advise our readers to contact a Realtor as their best source of information. Regularly we Realtors are asked for referrals to...

A Virginia man is on trial this week in federal court, fighting accusations that he participated in a large-scale kickback scheme that involved several Tobyhanna Army Depot workers. Derrick Jackson, 47, of Stafford, Va., was indicted in March 2008 along with a Hazleton man in an 18-count indictment alleging conspiracy, public corruption, wire fraud and related charges. Federal authorities began an investigation into contracts New York-based ComputerGiants.com had with Tobyhanna Army Depot. From 2001 until 2005, ComputerGiants.com set up a slush fund for several people — including Mr. Jackson, who worked at Fort Belvoir Army Base in Virginia — who...

...WHILE ROLLING IN THEIR CASHPosted: 1:55 am March 1, 2009 Meanwhile, if Frank, Kerry & Co. truly want to do something about wasteful spending by banks that got TARP money, maybe they ought to look at their own campaign donations. And then give some of it back. (Right.) According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks political giving, banks that got TARP funds spent more than $114 million on 2008 lobbying and campaign contributions. Since 360 institutions got bailout funds, that averages nearly $320,000 a pop. Even last fall, as the banks begged for handouts,...

Top recipients of Fannie/Freddie donations: #1 Chris Dodd #2 John Kerry #3 Barack Obama #4 HIllary Clinton For the record, that's two Democratic presidential nominees, two also-ran presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton, at least the second most significant Democrat in the country.

When state Senator Barack Obama cosponsored legislation creating and increasing subsidies for low-income housing developers in Illinois, and wrote letters to get $14 million specifically for two of them (one was Tony Rezko), his official acts benefited several friends and donors in that industry. A similar thing happened when Obama earmarked $200,000 for Jesse Jackson’s investment fund in Chicago and $225,000 for Father Michael Pfleger’s neighborhood ministry. Those are just a few among dozens of examples of how, when Senator Obama governs, his friends do well. Such arrangements give the lie to Obama’s self-projected image as a reformer who wants...

We thought Jessie James rode a horse. But apparently he now sits in a House office building. And instead of robbing banks, he bankrolls robbers. Enter Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), the Majority Whip. He has come under fire in the past week for revelations by The Sun News, based out of Myrtle Beach, that some of his earmarks have directly benefited friends, business associates, political allies, family members—and anybody else he apparently has taken a special liking to. The November 2007 Citizens Against Government Waste “Porker of the Month” winner is at it again. And for this year, he has...

LOS ANGELES – Famed San Diego class-action attorney William Lerach, a former partner at a prestigious New York law firm, was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for his role in a lucrative kickback scheme involving class-action lawsuits against some of the nation's biggest corporations. Lerach, 61, was also sentenced to two years probation, fined $250,000 and ordered to complete 1,000 hours of community service. “This whole conspiracy corrupted the law firm and it corrupted it in the most evil way,” U.S. District Judge John Walter said during the hearing. Authorities said Lerach's former firm, now known as...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rudy Giuliani assured a conservative legal group Friday that if elected president he would appoint federal judges who adhere to their principles. He also praised a judge who declared the capital city's gun ban unconstitutional and ridiculed efforts to eliminate the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. In a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the Federalist Society, Giuliani spelled out a conservative legal agenda in which he cited Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts as models for the judges he would appoint to the federal...

The fall of San Diego trial lawyer William S. Lerach may end his reign as Wall Street's king of pain, but the class-action lawsuit industry he helped create has become an established reality for corporate America. William S. Lerach: "I ... crossed a line and pushed too far.” Lerach, 61, admitted in a plea agreement that prosecutors filed yesterday that he participated in a scheme that secretly paid kickbacks to recruit plaintiffs for more than 150 class-action lawsuits brought against U.S. companies. As part of the deal, Lerach agreed to forfeit $7.75 million in unlawful gains, pay a $250,000 fine...

Prosecutors promised on Monday to prove that Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government, earning him a privileged position in Iraq. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Miller told jurors at opening arguments of Wyatt's trial that prosecutors would present photos, audio tapes, bank records, U.N. records and Iraqi government records proving Wyatt paid kickbacks to win Iraqi oil contracts . "Oscar Wyatt's years of assistance to the Hussein regime earned him a privileged status in Iraq," Miller said. Wyatt, an 83-year-old self-made oil tycoon, faces five counts in Manhattan federal court including engaging in...

A Texas oil executive pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to cheat the United Nations oil-for-food program out of millions by paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's Iraq regime. David Chalmers, the sole shareholder of Bayoil USA Inc. in Houston, was set to go on trial next month on charges he used a cozy relationship with Iraq in the 1980s to secure oil contracts. He could have faced more than 60 years in prison if convicted. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a 37- to 46-month term when he is sentenced Nov. 19. Chalmers...

CHICAGO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc. (HD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it had fired four merchandising associates who violated the company's ethical standards and said the matter is under investigation by federal authorities. CBS News reported that four purchasing managers are alleged to have taken kickbacks totaling millions of dollars to make sure that certain flooring products got onto Home Depot's shelves. The company said in a statement, "The Home Depot has terminated four merchandising associates for infractions of our ethical standards. We're cooperating with authorities and because this matter is under investigation, we can't comment...

A former senior partner of a pioneering law firm that won billions for clients in securities fraud cases pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy. The plea agreement by Milberg Weiss ex-partner David Bershad in what the government has described as a kickback scheme ratchets up the pressure on William S. Lerach and co-founder Melvyn I. Weiss. The New York-based firm made its name launching shareholder suits against major corporations and recovered more than $45 billion for investors in such cases. Lerach left Milberg in 2004 to open a San Diego-based practice that quickly became one of the top securities class-action firms,...

A former partner of a major New York law firm pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with kickbacks the firm is accused of paying to plaintiffs in class action and shareholder lawsuits. David J. Bershad, 67,........pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.......obstruction of justice and making false statements under oath. Prosecutors believe the firm, now known as Milberg Weiss, received more than $200 million in fees from such lawsuits filed over the past 20 years......... ........one of his attorneys said "His efforts to right these wrongs, together with his many good works throughout his career, should be remembered along with...

The California Lottery's broadcasting director was fired Tuesday over allegations he signed an unauthorized contract last year with the Hilton Glendale using state funds that earned his personal hotel account at least 97,000 member rewards points. Richard Leeson's termination came after a two-month administrative investigation into the matter, and on the same day a special state Senate hearing was convened seeking an explanation from state lottery officials. The August 2006 contract for about 80 rooms a month was signed by Leeson to house lottery contestants appearing on the "Big Spin" television show for the 2007 calendar year at the Hilton...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The founder of a multinational oil services company and one of his top executives have admitted to illegally paying more than $400,000 to Alaska lawmakers in a widening political corruption scandal. Bill J. Allen, chief executive of Anchorage-based VECO Corp., and Rick Smith, a vice president, pleaded guilty Monday to bribing state legislators with cash and the promise of jobs and favors for their backing on bills supported by the company. Allen, 70, and Smith, 62, appeared separately in U.S. District Court to plead guilty to extortion, bribery and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service....

Army Reserve Lt. Col. Debra Harrison returned to New Jersey after 17 months in Iraq with a Purple Heart and vivid descriptions of at least two brushes with death in the combat zone. A federal indictment unsealed yesterday alleged she also returned with $330,000 in stolen cash earmarked for Iraq reconstruction projects and played a key role in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme that netted her a Cadillac Escalade, two handguns, prescription drugs and enough money to install a deck and hot tub at her home in Trenton. The 25-count indictment accused Harrison and two fellow soldiers, Col. Curtis Whiteford of...

You may recall that William Jefferson was the Rat congressman nailed a few months ago with a freezer full of cold cash. Naturally, both Rats and Pubbies condemned the FBI for raiding the Congressman's office and coming up with the goods. And even more naturally, MSM pretty much gave the Rats a free pass over the incident -- while focusing on the far more serious Mark Foley e-mails. Well, it just so happens that Jefferson was not turned over his slight moral lapse -- maybe. William was forced into a runoff against a black female lawyer. The election was held...